Out of Sorts
by Rumour of an Alchemist
Summary: It's 1st September 1971 and the deputy headmistress has broken a promise to the Sorting Hat, with consequences for the forthcoming sorting... 'Seed-point' of an AU. Warning! Canon characters mercilessly judged and sorted into non-canon houses. (Punctuation mistakes cleaned up, 9th March, 2014)
1. The Sorting Hat

(punctuation mistakes corrected, 9th March, 2014)

Disclaimer: I am not J K Rowling. I do not own Harry Potter.

Warning! Canon characters will be mercilessly judged and placed in non-canon houses. The Sorting Hat is in a bad mood...

* * *

><p>It was the first of September, 1971, and the Hogwarts Sorting Hat, responsible for allocating the first year pupils to their new houses, was in a foul mood. The deputy-headmistress of the school, Professor Minerva McGonagall, had last year promised it a wash and degrease treatment, before the next new intake arrived, but now that new intake were streaming into the great hall of the castle, and it had had no such treatment.<p>

If the hat had had eyes, it would have been glaring at the deputy-headmistress (currently shepherding in the new intake) furiously. However, it had only a mouth, so was reduced to mumbling to Professor Filius Flitwick, the enthusiastic charms professor and head of Ravenclaw house, as he carried the hat and the solid wooden stool which pupils sat upon into position in pride of place in the hall.

"Mmmph, Minerva promised me a wash and degrease last year." The hat grumbled to Filius. "She hasn't done so, the pupils are now arrived, and – hah – she is foresworn. Alright, she didn't promise on her magic or anything like that, but a witch should be as good as her word."

"She's been a bit busy with Voldemort opening up his war." Filius responded as he put the stool down.

"Right, and with a war coming, you would have thought she'd want me in a good mood to sort pupils properly. If this war goes on for any length of time, some of your graduates will be joining one side or the other." the hat grumbled. Filius flicked his wand, giving the hat a quick once-over with a dusting charm, and adjusted its position. "You'll give me a wash and degrease before the end of this month won't you, Filius?"

"Alright. I give you my oath on my position here at Hogwarts." the diminutive man sighed.

"Right. We are _iiiiinnnnnn_ business." the hat mumbled back. "And I'll try to keep the troublemakers out of your house this year, as much as the numbers allow."

Filius Flitwick stepped back, and the Sorting Hat launched into a _very_ pointed song about how the four Hogwarts founders one day were tricked by an old hag selling bars of soap, and how they took their revenge upon her. Despite the hat's lack of regular visual apparatus it _was_ aware of the _very_ sharp glance that Minerva cast in its direction at one point; it continued blithely to the end of the song though, as if the topic were purely a coincidence.

Then the deputy headmistress was reading out the first name from the alphabetical list of new pupils…

* * *

><p>A couple of names in, the Sorting Hat landed on the head of 'Avery, Martin'. Ordinarily, with a mind such as his, the hat would have sent him to Slytherin, with little hesitation, but the hat instead lingered, and decided that there was sufficient reckless idiocy in the boy to send him to: "Gryffindor!"<p>

It sorted another pupil, and then found itself on the head of 'Black, Sirius'.

It poked around inside young master Black's head whilst the boy sat there thinking furiously at it: _Gryffindor_, _Gryffindor_.

_And just tell me, Mr. Black, why should I sort you into Gryffindor?_ the hat thought back.

_Because I'm not like the rest of my bloody family, and I'm going to show them that._

_Ah well, Mr. Black. You see what you are expressing could be taken as bravery and determination, or it could be taken to be a level of ambition worthy of Salazar Slytherin himself, determined to go against the whole Black family. Which means, Mr. Black, that paradoxically there can only possibly be one house for you. Find whatever way you like to go against your family, but don't expect me to determine your Hogwarts house on the basis that you don't want to follow the family traditions._

"Slytherin!" the hat dispatched him.

The idiot sat there for a moment, stunned. Then he slowly got up, took the hat off, and headed for the Slytherin benches, to loud cheers and applause from his new housemates and the beams of the proud head of Slytherin, Professor Horace Slughorn.

Given the levels of potential viciousness and low-cunning the hat had detected in young Mr. Black boy, and memories of a recent scene in a railway carriage still fresh in his mind, where he had delighted in tormenting a half-blood, the hat felt entirely justified in not indulging Mr. Black's desire to be a Gryffindor.

* * *

><p>"Evans, Lily." the deputy headmistress read out.<p>

The red-headed girl with emerald eyes headed to the stool, sat down, and pulled the hat on.

They chatted mentally for a while, whilst the hat rummaged through her thoughts. She was undoubtedly naturally talented, but a muggleborn, and the hat sensed a latent tendency in her to take things easy and go along with any groups she belonged to – and not to make much effort to protest when such groups might be in the wrong. Ordinarily, the hat would have sent her the way of Gryffindor, despite the current lack of genuine backbone, simply because she was muggleborn and the house her talents and sneakiness would normally be best placed in would give her a hard time. The hat was in mutinous mood today, however.

_I know where I'm going to send you, Miss Evans, and all I can say is make sure you sit down straight next to Mr. Black. He's looking for a cause, and you could be one, and he actually has the power to protect you at least whilst you find your feet._

And then the hat dispatched her: "Slytherin!"

The Slytherins looked confused, for the most part, not being familiar with her name. One dark-haired boy over on the benches still waiting to be sorted applauded her enthusiastically though.

At least the girl took the hat's advice and made straight for Sirius Black, who was applauding her belatedly, and where the Black heir led, the rest of Slytherin was, for now, prepared to follow.

The hat felt a slight twinge of guilt over sending Miss Evans to Slytherin, but it was going to be blowed if it would hand Minerva such a talented student this year, and by the time Black's ability to protect her might be waning, the Sorting Hat was confident the head of Slytherin himself, Professor Horace Slughorn, would have noticed her talents, and be prepared to step in.

* * *

><p>'Lupin, Remus' was an easy sort for the hat. He was a werewolf with a thirst to learn. Another year the hat might have sent him to Gryffindor, simply for his daring to come to Hogwarts. But he hid what he was, and with a yen like this for learning he'd fit well in Ravenclaw – and besides, the hat felt it owed Filius a student like this. The hat duly dispatched him to Filius' house.<p>

* * *

><p>'Mulciber, Justinian', the Sorting Hat decided, was a comrade in arms of Martin Avery. Master Mulciber might be more calculating in his recklessness, but the hat felt that that recklessness' mere presence sufficiently justified that Minerva could have him too, and it duly sent him to Gryffindor. The hat hadn't bothered to examine if Justinian knew Martin; they were pretty much two of a kind, and if they weren't fast friends already, they soon would be.<p>

* * *

><p>'Pettigrew, Peter' proved problematic for the hat. Peter Pettigrew had few, if any, discernible qualities. Whilst he had a certain degree of desperate cunning, it was not really adequate for Slytherin, but it was about all he had going for him. Eventually the hat asked him where he wanted to go?<p>

_Slytherin or Ravenclaw._ Peter thought back, glancing at Sirius Black and Remus Lupin whom he'd met on the train and the hat had already sorted.

Hmmph. The hat sent him to Ravenclaw then. Maybe some sort of unexpected talent could be coaxed out of him by Filius.

* * *

><p>'Potter, James' was another tricky sort for the hat. Another time and place and Potter's firm belief that he belonged in Gryffindor would have had the hat sending him there. However…<p>

_Hmm. I see a recent memory in your head, Mr. Potter, of an encounter in a train carriage with a dark haired boy. You seemed to quite enjoy insulting him._

_So what? He wants to be in Slytherin._

_Yes, but that, you see, is hardly behaviour I consider appropriate for one raised in one of the leading families in the wizarding world who happens to also want to be in Gryffindor. Do you really think Godric Gryffindor, when he was founding this school, would have stooped to behaviour like that? He was even prepared to work with Salazar Slytherin, at least until Salazar and the other founders had their big argument. There is one house, however, I feel appropriate to you._

And the hat duly announced him to belong to Hufflepuff.

Potter was another who was stunned by the hat's decision. He sat there, arms folded, arguing with the hat in a futile attempt to get it to change its decision, but the hat refused to budge.

James Potter was loyal to his friends, and that was about all that the hat could say for him. If he had any other qualities, they had yet to emerge, and loyalty meant Hufflepuff.

Eventually, to the laughter of three quarters of the pupils in the hall, the deputy headmistress dragged master Potter to his feet, took the hat off, and gently but firmly pushed him in the direction of the Hufflepuff table.

He headed that way, casting desperate glances back over his shoulder in the direction of Gryffindor.

The hat hoped the egotistical idiot might learn some humility in Hufflepuff.

* * *

><p>"Snape, Severus."<p>

The hat found itself on the head of the pupil who had enthusiastically applauded as Lily Evans went into Slytherin. His mind was filled with a desperate, burning desire to be in Slytherin, for the sake of both being in the house and of being with his friend.

_Loyalty is a Hufflepuff trait, Mr. Snape,_ the hat informed him.

_What? But this is loyalty specifically to one person._ Severus desperately thought back.

_And arguing with the hat is arguably a Gryffindor one._

_Not if it involves low-cunning._

_Ah, but, Mr. Snape, you are employing reasoned arguments, I deem, which would make you a Ravenclaw. And you know, despite the fictions some parties like to maintain that houses should never associate, if you were in Ravenclaw there would be nothing to prevent you from seeing a good deal of Miss Evans in your free time, if you so desired, and a combination of Slytherin and Ravenclaw would not be too frowned upon by your respective housemates._

_You don't understand. She's a muggleborn. I encouraged her to be in Slytherin, and I have to be in the same house as her to protect her._

_And again, a desire to be protective of another is something which would argue more for Gryffindor than Slytherin._

_Not if it's __just__ the one…_

_My mind is quite made up on this point, Mr. Snape. You can have either Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. Your choice._

The answer was what the hat expected, and so it sent Severus Snape to Ravenclaw.

In another universe it might have put him in Slytherin, but in this one the hat considered the lad's genius would best flourish in Ravenclaw – and being surrounded by bright people and outshining them might help some of the self-esteem issues Severus had. And besides, the hat was feeling slightly guilty about sending Peter Pettigrew in Filius' direction, and thought that getting Severus Snape should help to make up for it.

* * *

><p>Eventually, the sorting was done, and the hat and the stool were removed, the headmaster stood up and made his usual speech, and the feast commenced. The Sorting Hat dozed back on the mantelpiece, in the headmaster's office, wondering what would come of this year's sortings, and how different the results were from what might have been had it not had that unpleasant experience with the deputy headmistress who was also the head of Gryffindor failing to keep her word…<p>

* * *

><p>Author Notes:<p>

Partially inspired by a number of other short pieces of fanfiction by other authors on this site where the Sorting Hat has a brainstorm of some kind and dispatches pupils to non-canon places.

As of the time of writing this, I am unaware of any first names or exact years of attendance having been assigned in canon to messieurs Avery and Mulciber of the Marauders years at Hogwarts. I have taken the liberty of assigning them 'Martin' and 'Justinian' respectively, and putting them in the year which commences attendance in September 1971.


	2. The Sorted

Disclaimer: I am not J K Rowling. I do not own Harry Potter.

Note: The following chapter concerns how those pupils whose sortings were covered in the first chapter cope/react in the wake of their house placements. This is (by this point) heading off into wild and wooly alternate universe territory...

* * *

><p>Martin Avery had been expecting to be sorted into Slytherin, but instead the hat had put him in Gryffindor. That had left him feeling conflicted. He had expected to be in Slytherin. It was a house of the sneaky, the ambitious, and the underhanded. It was where the sons and daughters of powerful and influential figures and families ended up – you only had to look at this year: they had got Sirius Black, the heir to one of the wealthiest and politically most powerful families in wizarding Britain.<p>

Martin Avery had been looking forward to being in Slytherin, and expecting to ride the robe sleeves of someone destined for greatness – maybe even taking the dark mark and becoming a servant of the Dark Lord. Had that been why he had _not_ ended up in Slytherin, he had to wonder now? Had such petty aims and little goals – to be a follower of someone else – been considered unworthy of Salazar's house by the Sorting Hat? Had it placed him in Gryffindor to teach him to forge his own way?

Martin Avery wasn't certain why the hat had done what it did, but he and some other first year pupils who had found themselves in Gryffindor were going to get together to form a group. It was Justinian Mulciber's idea. They hadn't quite settled on goals yet, but they were going to call themselves 'The Golden Horde' and make sure that Hogwarts took notice of them.

* * *

><p>Sirius Black had wanted desperately to be sorted into Gryffindor, as a bold statement against his family.<p>

The hat had had a point he had to concede, upon calm reflection over the days immediately following the sorting, that it was unreasonable for it to place him in Gryffindor simply because he disapproved of his family's official stance on various things. It was blatantly obvious that the hat didn't place solely on the basis of family tradition – James Potter had been certain, coming from a long line of Gryffindors, that he would go there, and the hat had dispatched him to Hufflepuff, instead. It had lifted Sirius out of his bleak mood at his own sorting, to see James Potter sitting there that evening, refusing to budge, unable to believe where the hat had just sent him. Sirius had chuckled along with three quarters of the rest of the school.

James Potter was from a pure-blood family, of course, and the rest of Slytherin probably wouldn't mind too much if Sirius extended a hand of friendship to James Potter, once Sirius had quite settled in.

Sirius Black wasn't sure _why_ the Sorting Hat had sent Lily Evans to Slytherin – she didn't seem to be too sure herself – but she had made straight for him, having been sorted there, a look of almost desperation on her face.

She _knew_ what she was being sent into.

Sirius had recalled her on the train, arrogant, or at least proud, tearing him and three other boys off a strip, and he had decided at least for a week or so to give her some room to try and settle, or at least show what she could do.

And in the first week she had shown, he had to admit, that she was one of the most talented Slytherin pupils in the year. The head of Slytherin, Professor Slughorn, had been practically _drooling_ over the potion-brewing ability she showed in her first class in the subject, scarcely able to believe that she was muggle-born and had been brought up in a world which knew nothing of cauldrons. Apparently the only other pupil in the year who came close to her potions talent was the Ravenclaw half-blood, Snape (and Sirius suspected Professor Slughorn thought better of Lily since she was one of his own pupils). And in so far as it was possible to make judgements at this early stage, Lily looked to be one of the top three or four students in the year when it came to charms, too.

Once that was all clear, Sirius decided it was safe enough to adopt Lily as a 'cause' permanently. Growing up with his relatives, he had had to develop certain instincts for ways to do things, and he knew what would or wouldn't fly with the average Slytherin. He mentioned, in his letters home to his parents, the points in charms and potions that Lily Evans was bringing in to Slytherin, and that in terms of overall ability across practical subjects she was not far behind that Ravenclaw, Snape, and probably on about an equal footing with the other Ravenclaw boy-genius of the year, Lupin. Yes, she was a muggle-born, but she was a _talented_ muggle-born, and therefore the usual rules did not apply to her. That was the line he was taking in his letters home to his parents, and they – so pleased were they right now that Sirius was in Slytherin – indulged him in that. And Sirius was able to use that indulgence to his housemates: See, my parents don't disapprove of _talent_, even when in a muggle-born package, so who are _you_ to disagree?

The fact that the fifth year Slytherin prefect Lucius Malfoy had allowed himself to be convinced of this assisted Sirius greatly. Lucius had half an eye on a profitable marriage to one of Sirius' cousins, and was happy to back up the eldest son of Orion Black. And having a prefect _and_ the head of house along gave him a rock solid position for now.

Sirius was aware that most eleven year olds didn't think or do things like this, but most eleven year olds hadn't had his upbringing. Getting into Gryffindor might have allowed him to escape this sort of crap – and to perhaps get a belated childhood in – but since he had ended up in Slytherin anyway, it was time to bring the advantages of a Black upbringing to bear.

* * *

><p>Lily Evans couldn't understand why she'd ended up in Slytherin. Most of her other housemates were hardly on speaking terms with her, because neither her parents nor grandparents were witches or wizards, which was silly, and she had the impression that an atmosphere of outright hostility would be prevailing if it weren't for the fact that Sirius Black was on her side.<p>

She'd seen the expression on Severus' face when he'd seen her sorted into Slytherin, which had been one of delight, but then, when he'd been sent to Ravenclaw he'd cast a look of almost desperation and of something else in her direction.

Apparently he'd checked the rules with his head of house, Professor Flitwick, his very first night at Hogwarts and discovered that there wasn't anything against pupils from different houses studying together, visiting one another's common rooms, or inviting pupils from other houses to join them for breakfast in the great hall. And on his second morning at Hogwarts he'd mentioned this to her at breakfast (he'd said it would have been rushing things to have tried it on his first) and he _did_ invite Lily to join him and Lupin at the Ravenclaw table.

Not wanting to get herself in hot water with her Slytherin housemates, and aware that her position was tenuous at best, Lily had checked that with Sirius, and he'd said it was probably okay for a Slytherin to be seen associating with members of Ravenclaw. So, with the eyes of a good many of her housemates following her, to see what she did, she went across the floor of the great hall to the Ravenclaw table with Severus, and sat down between him and Lupin.

They had been positioned facing the Slytherin table, so of course Lily could see the Slytherin table now, too, and although there were occasional glances in her direction from the Slytherin table, they didn't seem _too_ bothered to see her sitting between two Ravenclaws who even after only one full day had already started to acquire reputations for brilliance.

Severus asked how she was doing, whilst looking faintly guilty at some of her answers, and Remus was polite, and the pair of them invited Lily to come and join them in the library after lunch the following day. Severus had mumbled something about 'defensive spells' which Lily took to be an offer to give her some pointers in a direction that might assist if her housemates decided to have a bit of magical fun at her expense in private.

* * *

><p>Remus Lupin was a pupil in a daze. The first night, Professor Flitwick had called a meeting of the whole of Ravenclaw House, and magically sworn them to secrecy, for as long as Remus was a student Hogwarts – and had then explained Remus had been attacked by Fenrir Greyback, and had contracted lycanthropy as a result. And then Professor Flitwick had made a big speech, about the importance of knowledge, and how he hoped that despite the need for secrecy the pupils of Ravenclaw would look upon this at the very least as an opportunity to investigate preconceived ideas and to question prejudices.<p>

Remus had gone from a position where virtually nobody knew his secret to one where well over a hundred fellow pupils did, in one stroke.

"Your housemates are _Ravenclaws_, Remus." Professor Flitwick had explained to Remus five minutes before he swore the house to secrecy and made his speech. "I think some of them _might_ notice inside the first couple of months that you're disappearing every full moon. We have to pre-empt this and take the sting before it can become an issue. Human beings are very good at assuming that if something has been kept secret from them, regarding something dangerous, that things are much worse than they might be."

And by and large his housemates did respect his situation, or at least at the moment they were prepared to give him breathing space, whilst they observed and drew their own conclusions about him.

* * *

><p>Justinian Mulciber had <em>not<em> been expecting to end up in Gryffindor. He had been certain his cunning would be sufficient to get him into Slytherin. Apparently not. Instead he had ended up in the house archetypically opposed to Slytherin, and he was re-evaluating his opinions and options. Since he had been sorted into a house where overt demonstrations were what were admired, and basically rushing in at enemies before _anyone_ had a chance to form a proper plan – which apparently was sufficient to win the day more times than it ought to do – that was the mode of operation to which he would have to adapt. Being in Gryffindor had advantages of course, besides being able to take the credit (and adulation) for one's deeds; the headmaster was reputed to have been a Gryffindor after all, and to favour the house and those in it on account of that.

Justinian was determined, since the hat had put him in Gryffindor, to adapt to this unexpected circumstance, and that meant forming a gang of like-minded individuals to get their names know, to smite their enemies, (including Slytherins if necessary), and to generally be admired and respected by their housemates. Gryffindors took action, and he and 'The Golden Horde' would jolly well take action. He was particularly pleased by the name, dipping into history, and playing on the house-colours of Gryffindor, which were of course red and gold. Maybe the members ought to have codenames of famous warriors and leaders from history. He quite fancied being 'Belisarius'…

* * *

><p>Peter Pettigrew didn't understand how he'd ended up in Ravenclaw. He'd wanted to be in Gryffindor, with Potter, Black, and Lupin – not that that had worked out too well for any of them, either. Before Peter had been sorted Black had gone to Slytherin like all his family, and Lupin had been sorted into Ravenclaw. And then it had been Peter's turn and the hat had asked him where he wanted to go – and Peter had had a premonition that Potter wouldn't get the Gryffindor he'd wanted – and so Peter had opted for Slytherin or Ravenclaw, wanting to at least be in the same house as one of the boys he'd met on the train and to his surprise the hat had plonked him in Ravenclaw. Well, Lupin <em>hadn't<em> seemed too bad, and Peter had thought that at least it meant, with Severus Snape so avowedly certain of Slytherin, that he'd be avoiding him.

And with most of the rest of the school, Peter had sniggered when Potter had been sorted into Hufflepuff and just _hadn't_ been able to believe it, before flying into a mild panic a short while later, when Severus Snape had somehow ended up in Ravenclaw.

Peter just had to hope that Severus wasn't the sort to hold a grudge, and wouldn't notice him too much. Or maybe he should hope that Severus _would_ notice him, because he had seemed a brainy sort on the train, and Peter could do with inveigling his way into the good books of someone brainy if he was going to survive in the house of ravens.

During the sorting feast, Peter had started to calm down, and to reassure and tell himself that he could fit in, and then a short while afterwards in the Ravenclaw common room had come the head of house's bombshell that Remus Lupin was a werewolf! He didn't _look_ the psychotic murdering type, who would maul them all to death in their sleep, Peter was sure, but how could one tell with a werewolf?

He reassured himself with the fact that Filius Flitwick, the head of Ravenclaw, was said to be the most skilled wizard in the school, when it came to duelling, after the headmaster himself. He would surely be able to keep his charges safe if Lupin – or Remus as Peter supposed he must refer to him – turned nasty.

* * *

><p>James Potter couldn't understand how he had ended up in Hufflepuff. No, correct that; he could see the <em>reasoning<em>, but he was having a hard time of accepting it emotionally. And it was infuriating to be in the house which was the butt of the jokes of many of the wits of other houses. He, himself, had been busy making just such jokes about Hufflepuffs on the train on his way to school. Well he was laughing on the other side of his face now – or rather he wasn't laughing at all, more to the point.

It was a cruel universe.

The worst part of it was that, having been put in Hufflepuff, damnit but he felt _obliged_ to what was now his house. Oh yes, the Sorting Hat had definitely got him to a 'T' on that count. Potters were loyal. Hufflepuffs were loyal. Go figure.

It was just that somewhere, deep down inside, James Potter had _hoped_ that he would have been found to be at least as brave by the hat as loyal. It felt like a judgement on his personal valour.

And that hurt.

* * *

><p>Severus Snape had had his dreams dashed. He'd seen Lily – brilliant Lily – sorted into Slytherin, and for a handful of glorious minutes had dreamt of what might be to come, and then reality had struck and the hat had sent him to Ravenclaw.<p>

Not that things couldn't have been _worse_. If he'd been sent to Gryffindor the sentiments of both his and her houses would have made it very nasty for them having anything to do with one another, but Lily was still in Slytherin and Severus was already picking up that the dislike Slytherins had for most muggle-borns was quite a bit worse than he'd thought.

Severus had thought on the train that Sirius Black was probably a complete waste of space, but it turned out that he had his uses after all. At least when it came to Lily it turned out that Sirius didn't give a monkey's about conventional Slytherin attitudes to muggle-borns, and even though he was only a first-year, Sirius Black _was_ an heir in the direct line of one of the oldest and most respected families in magical Britain – and his opinion consequently counted for a lot. The Slytherins were currently turning a blind eye to Lily's birth circumstances because the boy who would likely one day be the head of House Black required it, and Severus was grateful for that – even to a prat like Black.

And in the meantime, Severus was managing to meet up with Lily as often as possible in the library, to instruct her in as much by the way of defensive and protective magic as he could, as fast as possible. Lupin tagged along too, which was handy, since he was more softly spoken and better at explaining things than Severus. Lupin was clever – it was a pity his life had been so damaged by his being infected with lycanthropy, taking him out of studies for a quarter of a month or so whilst he suffered and recovered, as he might have been able to do astonishing things if all his time had been his own. (Severus had to wonder why there hadn't been any significant developments made in alleviating lycanthropy? Surely it should be possible to brew a potion of some kind to at least minimise the monthly effects?)

The fact that Remus _was_ a werewolf didn't bother Severus in the slightest. Albus Dumbledore, the hero who had defeated Grindelwald, surely wouldn't have admitted him to the school in the first place if he thought Remus could pose any serious danger, and apparently the headmaster, Professor Flitwick, and Madam Pomfrey in the infirmary were working on ways to ensure Remus' comfort and the safety of everyone during full-moon nights. Pure-bloods who sneered at Severus for being 'the son of a muggle' bothered Severus much more than the fact that Remus was someone indisposed three nights out of every lunar month.

Severus _hadn't_ ended up in Slytherin, with Lily, but life was at least tolerable as things were – and being at Hogwarts in Ravenclaw was _considerably_ better than being back 'home' in Spinner's End…

* * *

><p>Author Notes:<p>

Whilst the first chapter was intended to be a stand-alone piece on how the Sorting Hat came to make a very different 1971 sorting from that of canon, it seemed reasonable to provide some indication of the initial reactions to the situations in which the hat had placed them of the pupils.

The idea that despite the canon Marauders all being sorted away from Gryffindor, a gang of Gryffindors would form anyway (in this case 'The Golden Horde') is perhaps an artistic liberty, but I wanted to play wth the idea that maybe (in Gryffindor House's case) it's the perception of the house by the pupils in it that encourages such things to sometimes occur. (Especially with a war having just recently broken out.)

Unless I can assemble a chapter giving the staff reaction that seems to be it for this piece, although it's possible the universe may continue in other fiction some day...

Thanks to those who despite the fact this was indicated as a likely one-shot put this one on alert anyway. That encouraged me to come back to it eventually and get this chapter out.


End file.
